At the moment there are in the market different products developed for amateur sportspeople and/or professionals with different purposes such as increasing endurance, hydration, muscle toning, recovering, increasing muscle mass, decreasing levels of lactic acid in muscles, among others. These products are based mainly on carbohydrates and proteins along with nutrition supplements (Kreider, R, Wilborn, C, Taylor, L, Campbell, B, Almada, A, Collins, R, Cooke, M, Earnest, C, Greenwood, M, Kalman, D, Kerksick, C, Kleiner, S, Leutholtz, B, Lopez, H, Lowery, L, Mendel, R, Smith, A, Spano, M, Wildman, R, Willoughby, D, Ziegenfuss, T, and Antonio, J, ISSN exercise & sport nutrition review: research & recommendations. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 7:7 (2010)).
Sport nutrition supplements are based primarily on carbohydrates and protein sources obtained from cereals such as corn and wheat, legumes such as soy, animal products such as milk or eggs, apart from adding active substances depending on the properties these products offer (i.e. caffeine, carnitine, taurine). Among the products existing today in the market for sports practitioners are drinks and energy bars.
The demand for this kind of product in the world has recently increased, due to a boost in sports culture. However, the ergogenic aid products sold today in Chile have a high cost and are mainly imported, which reveals little competition in the area, which in turn opens an interesting niche for the development and commercialization of similar products.
The kinetics of absorption of these substances in the body depends on different factors during each step of digestion, which are: i) food lubrication by body secretions, ii) mechanic reduction of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, iii) nutrient absorption. This last process occurs in the small intestine. Once proteins have been reduced by proteases, they are absorbed as tripeptides, dipeptides and individual amino acids. Carbohydrates (sugars and starch) are hydrolyzed by endogenous enzymes in the intestine into disaccharides such as saccharose, lactose and maltose and later into monosaccharides such as glucose, fructose and galactose, which are then absorbed. Lipids are decomposed by lipase into fatty acids and monoglycerides. Generally speaking, the nutrient absorption mechanisms involved are: i) active transport, ii) passive diffusion, iii) endocytosis and iv) facilitated diffusion. Active transport is mainly used for the absorption of carbohydrate and protein constituting units, which requires energy for its correct functioning.
Therefore, all this suggests that any strategy whose purpose is to reduce complex structures in size and to cause changes in this kind of biocomposite configuration previous to ingestion, will increase the absorption kinetics of nutrients in the intestine, which through a product developed specially for sportspeople will result in the individual's faster recovery at a lower energy cost.